"
Last and chiefest of blessings is Hope, the most common of
possessions; for, as Thales the philosopher said, "Even those who
have nothing else have hope." Hope is the great helper of the
poor. It has even been styled "the poor man's bread." It is also
the sustainer and inspirer of great deeds. It is recorded of
Alexander the Great, that when he succeeded to the throne of
Macedon, he gave away amongst his friends the greater part of the
estates which his father had left him; and when Perdiccas asked
him what he reserved for himself, Alexander answered, "The
greatest possession of all,--Hope!"
The pleasures of memory, however great, are stale compared with
those of hope; for hope is the parent of all effort and endeavour;
and "every gift of noble origin is breathed upon by Hope's
perpetual breath." It may be said to be the moral engine that
moves the world, and keeps it in action; and at the end of all
there stands before us what Robertson of Ellon styled "The Great
Hope." "If it were not for Hope," said Byron, "where would the
Future be?--in hell! It is useless to say where the Present is,
for most of us know; and as for the Past, WHAT predominates in
memory?--Hope baffled. ERGO, in all human affairs it is Hope,
Hope, Hope!" (9)
NOTES
(1) Jeremy Taylor's 'Holy Living.'
(2) 'Michelet's 'Life of Luther,' pp. 411-12.
(3) Sir John Kaye's 'Lives of Indian Officers.
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